Local

Prison stays trend longer Fewer inmates being released; state system under pressure BY PAUL HUGHES REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

HARTFORD — The number of inmates being released from state prisons appears on pace to hit a three-year low as average prison stays are apparently increasing.

A rising prison population has bedeviled the Malloy administration since the inmate count unexpectedly spiked in May and started exceeding administration's monthly projections.

A top official said the administration is confident that the root cause has been identified and the situation should be rectified over the next three to four months.

The monthly count for Nov. 1 dipped for only the second time since May. There were 101 fewer inmates incarcerated in the state's 18 prisons than on Oct. 1. The slight decline is being attributed to a decrease in the number of pre-trial detainees.

Despite the overall drop, there were 156 more sentenced prisoners on Nov. 1. It is this segment of the prison population that is suspected of driving up this year's numbers.

The administration largely has ruled out increases in prison admittances and the pre-trial population as causes for the unanticipated and prolonged rise in the prison population.

Prison admittances peaked in February at 2,545, according to the Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division. Entries into the prison system declined from 2,311 on Oct. 1 to 2,283 on Nov. 1, according to the division's latest monthly report.

"If the number of prison admittances does not rise, then the only reasonable explanation for a rising prison population would be longer average lengths-of-stay for many incarcerated offenders," the November report said.

Lawlor said a slowdown in the number of inmates being paroled appears the most likely cause of the increase in the sentenced population and the overall population. There was a 26.4 percent drop in the number of inmates released on parole between October 2012 and October 2013, according to the Nov. 1 report.

Administration officials believe this holdup is a consequence of criminal justice reforms enacted after the murders of a Cheshire mother and her two daughters in a 2007 home invasion.

Lawlor said the Board of Pardons and Parole is making headway now, and it is expected to have made significant progress by next March because of the steps that have been taken over the last several months.

Parole boards conducted 159 hearings in October, up 132 from the previous October. Some 125 inmates were granted parole. This represented an increase of 32 from October 2012.

THE NUMBER OF PRISON RELEASES through October was running significantly below the numbers recorded for the first nine months of 2012, 2011 and 2010, according to the legislature's research office.

There were 14,593 releases in the first nine months of 2013. In contrast, there were 16,694 releases through October 2012.

The total number of releases declined from 21,371 in 2009 to 20,439 in 2010, increased slightly to 20,646 in 2011, and then decreased to 19,844 last year.

If current trends hold as expected, the final tally of releases for 2013 should be the lowest in recent years, said Lawlor, the head of the Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division.

In its Oct. 1 report, the division said the prison system has expanded at a greater pace only six times in the last 20 years, and the state was expanding its prisons in five of those years.

That report also concluded that the prison system is too complex to manage effectively as it is currently configured based on the slow response to the rapid and steady increase in the prison population this year. At that time, Malloy stated that the administration had no reorganization plans.

The Oct. 1 report additionally suggested that the failure to understand the prison system and manage it properly has been costly.

HISTORICAL PATTERNS SUGGEST the prison population will continue to decline through the end of the calendar year, according to the administration.

The Nov. 1 report on the prison population said it could reasonably be expected to settle in the 16,500 to 16,600 range by the first of next year. However, it noted that this is still significantly higher than originally projected.

There were 17,103 offenders incarcerated in state prisons on Nov. 1. While this represented a decline from October, it was 558 more inmates than the administration had forecast would be incarcerated on Nov. 1.

Hundreds of inmates are sleeping in gymnasiums, dining halls and day rooms in some prisons because of a shortage of beds. The last estimate was 750 prisoners.

This has not been the only consequence of the rising prison population. There are also budget implications.

The prison budget is based partly on how many inmates the Department of Correction is expected to have in its custody and care. The prisons have been holding hundreds of more inmates a month than anticipated for the second half of the 2014 fiscal year.

The legislature's budget office estimates it costs $50,690 a year to incarcerate a prisoner. That works out to slightly more than $4,224 a month.

The Department of Correction has one of the largest budgets in state government. The legislature and Malloy budgeted $670.4 million this year. The department's budget is due to increase to $689.2 million next year.

The prison system also has the largest staff. The current two-year budget authorizes 6,523 full-time positions a year. The Department of Correction originally had $427.7 million available for payroll this year. Now, payroll is expected to be $429.1 million.

At this time, the legislature's budget office also reported the department is expected to spend $77.9 million on overtime based on current trends.

The department had been budgeted save $2.8 million on overtime costs due to better management of sick time usage. Those anticipated savings appear in doubt now because sick time has not declined from the last fiscal year.

" The people who are predators on the innocent (e.g. your mom or dad or other defenseless loved one) are not being released from prison fast enough and this is somehow a problem? As I see what is happening in our society the more I see Liberalism (progressive) as a mental health issue. Unfortunately we have put these sick individuals in charge, least we be called racist or stupid. We are, as a society, doomed due the actions of these fools. "

" These liberal judges like Gonocchio (spelling) are giving minimum sentences for heinous crimes. Months for rapes. They are being pressured by the state because of costs to house them. It's time to model our prisons after Sheriff Joe Arpaio's prisons. Prisons where inmates are forced to work to support their incarceration. "

" Here's a first - I agree with Cons1 on part of their answer. Our prison inmates shouldn't get a free ride. Have them work to offset the cost of their incarceration. And to provide restitution to their victims. Make them get a GED if they haven't graduated high school. Teach them marketable trades and current skills so when they return to society they don't have to revert to a life of crime. Give them credit for kicking drug habits and attending anger management and parenting programs. Have them volunteer to help those less fortunate than they are. But don't let them out until they've served their sentences. Otherwise, we lose the potential deterrent in cutting down on future crime. We don't want them on the street until they're ready to live in a civilized society. "

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